Tamoxifen encapsulation within polyethylene glycol-coated nanospheres. A new antiestrogen formulation

When dealing with solid tumors in vivo, pegylated long-circulating carrier systems show, after intravenous administration, an attractive extravasation profile with an enhanced localization in the tumoral interstitium. These systems could be of help for the delivery of cancer fighting drugs, such as Tamoxifen, a well known antiestrogen used in breast cancer therapy that possesses an extended biodistribution in vivo. This work aimed at encapsulating Tamoxifen in long-circulating poly(MePEGcyanoacrylate-co-hexadecylcyanoacrylate) 1:4 nanospheres. Tamoxifen-loaded poly(MePEGcyanoacrylate-co-hexadecylcyanoacrylate) nanospheres were successfully synthesized and characterized in terms of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity by a model made up from near infrared spectra using principal component analysis. Zeta potential, drug loading, encapsulation efficiency, as well as biological effect, in vitro release and nanospheres integrity were also investigated. Even though near infrared spectroscopy could not detect Tamoxifen, it revealed that Pluronic F68 was associated with the pegylated nanospheres. HPLC measurements demonstrated that Tamoxifen was encapsulated in the pegylated nanospheres following a partition equilibrium between the polymeric and the aqueous phases. The Tamoxifen encapsulated in the nanospheres still showed a transcription inhibitory activity in ex vivo experiments. However, zeta potential and in vitro release suggested that Tamoxifen was essentially localized at the nanoparticles surface, resulting in an important and immediate drug release.